B2b marketing or business to business marketing, is also known as industrial marketing. In b2b marketing, business is purchase is carried out between two business units.  B2b marketing has some special features such as buyers are scattered, purchase is normally large in quantity or numbers, requires more follow-ups. B2b marketing is usually done directly and there are normally no intermediaries involved in the business transaction. B2b marketing may also involve two bid pricing in which bids are submitted in two parts, technical and commercial.  B2b marketing generally involves negotiation of prices as the quantity involved is large. Negotiation can also be on delivery, quality and other technical or service related aspects. Before selling any item to a business house, a lot of filed work is required to be done. The needs of the customer are to be understood in details. In case the product is of engineering in nature, its functions and benefits have to be explained.  When the cost involved is very high, customer usually hesitates to purchase the item. So, customer’s fears and doubts should be clarified and removed. Basically b2b marketing is more of relationship marketing where a rapport with the customer is to be built up This relationship helps in securing repeat orders and may also be useful in getting referrals or testimonials from the clients which would prove to be beneficial to the company in the long run in terms of future orders, service or delivery matters or all such matters which arise in a business transaction.

The business to business marketing is a bit different from consumer marketing. In business to business marketing, the number of channels of distribution  are either nil or shorter in nature as compared to consumer marketing.  The business to business marketing involves negotiation between the buyer and seller , which is more personal in nature . number of sales calls to be made to customer in business to business marketing are quite large. Normally the business is not completed in one transaction or visit. It requires repeated calls , say first to understand the requirements of the  prospective customers,  and build up relation ship and understanding, Next, it could be to explain the benefits of the product / service that a sales person is going to offer.  A demonstration may also be necessary ,especially if the product is technical or complex in nature.  The number of people involved in business to business marketing I are quite large , starting from actual users of the item , planners , quality control personnel, maintenance department  and purchase department as well.  Each of these departments have a different role to play.  The user would specify his requirement to the planning department, who will , in turn combine the requirements of all the departments and check up the stock position and place an indent on the purchase department.  The purchase department would float enquiry and get suitable quotations which are examined technically by quality control department and maintenance department personnel from the point of view of meeting the specifications and repair /  maintenance aspects. Once the  technical features are examined and approved, purchase department goes for negotiation of price and other aspects such as delivery, quality etc.